Former RedState.com editor Caleb Howe is suffering from an ailing liver and is currently hospitalized. His family members have been asking for prayers and the outlook does not look good. RedState editor-in-chief Erick Erickson has set up a fund to help Caleb’s wife and two young daughters:
A fund has been set up to help Caleb Howe’s family. Most of you know Caleb. For several years he was my right hand here at RedState. He has been badly missed.
Right now, Caleb is in a hospital bed with a failing liver. His children, ages 11 and 14, are getting ready to go back to school. The family needs help.
It would lift an incredible burden for Caleb & Donna if they could get even the smallest amount of help with these upcoming expenses. If you’re not in a position to give, your prayers are always welcome in lieu of a donation. Thank you for your compassion and help.
As Mediaite’s Tommy Christopher points out, the situation has now become a story unto itself as liberal Daily Kos bloggers have taken up Caleb’s cause as well.
(B)loggers from Kos and Redstate traded progressively less-snotty blog posts on the subject of Caleb’s illness, its place within the context of American health care, and most of all, the need to help. Kos blogger SemDem made a few points about health care, and took shots at Redstate chief Erick Erickson that he later took out, but also made this plea to readers:
“But instead, allow me to ask you to do the Christian thing and donate to this young man’s fund. Yes, he assists in electing leaders who hurt my fellow Americans (and apparently himself), but he has two young, beautiful and innocent daughters who need him-and that is who the fund is for. He does not deserve to suffer, much less die. If you can spare anything, donate: Put .07 cents at the end of whatever you donate so they know it came from Kossacks (or KosKids, as we are unaffectionately called on Redstate). “
In the rough and tumble war that plays out every day on the internet between conservative and liberal bloggers, it’s nice to see this small but significant level of “Kumbaya,” especially to the benefit of Caleb’s family. The DailyKos contributor, SemDem suggests that “a conservative would never do this for one of our members” but of course, national charitable giving statistics prove that conservatives are much more likely to give to private charity. It proves that liberals still really don’t “get” conservatives; they don’t understand that our hearts and our compassion are defined by our individual actions, not our collective actions to grow government.
Be that as it may, despite the political swipes from the lefties at Kos, they’ve accounted for $1,429 in contributions to the over $25,000 raised for Caleb so far.
As Christopher points out, some of the contributions from the Daily Kos crowd were attached to pontifications about the American health care system and political diatribes attacking conservatives for opposing Obamacare. Here’s an example from the GoFundMe page:
DailyKos member here, just donated anonymously, so comment didn’t appear. Some of us care about ALL of us in this nation, which is why we support Obama, Obamacare, and many of us would prefer single-payer, so that NOBODY will ever find themselves in the position you and your family are now in – it’s not “all about me.” We support efforts for the common good because it’s the decent, moral, right thing to do. May you recover and may your family have you with them for years to come –
I met Caleb almost four years ago when he was part of the creation of the “Demon Sheep” persona on Twitter. He’s been a friend and supporter since then and I’ve always looked forward to events like CPAC when I could see him and interview him for Breitbart (see photo above). Many of us are heartbroken over his ailment and the grief his wife and daughters are experiencing. How great would it be for Breitbart readers to throw their generous support to Caleb and his family? Please help them out and then leave a comment here reflecting your support.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.